Lonnie Wheatley, INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (May 3, 2018) – Tyler Courtney continues his pursuit of the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car championship aboard the Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing Priority Aviation No. 7bc Sprint Car as the series takes to Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway on Saturday night.
It’s a 3/8-mile clay oval that “Sunshine” has found to his liking in the past.
“I’ve always run pretty good there,” Courtney says. “I won a local race there in 2015 and then ran second with USAC there last year.”
Saturday’s Plymouth card will mark the sixth round of USAC National Sprint Car action after a pair of events last weekend at Bloomington and Haubstadt’s Tri-State Speedway.
Courtney climbed a pair of positions from 12th to tenth in Friday’s Bloomington event before advancing from 15th to 12th at Tri-State Speedway on Saturday. “Sunshine” went on to round out the weekend with a third-place run aboard Hans Leins’ No. 97 USAC Silver Crown entry at the Terre Haute Action Track on Sunday.
“We want to run better than that obviously,” Courtney said of last weekend’s pair of USAC Sprint Car events. “We tried some things and they didn’t really pan out. Everyone is going to have those kind of nights over the course of the season, I’d rather get them out of the way early than have them later.”
Sitting a strong fourth in USAC National Sprint Car points, Courtney is optimistic going into Saturday’s event at Plymouth.
“We have got back to some of the things that were working earlier, I feel like we’re in a good spot,” Courtney explains.
Sunday’s USAC Silver Crown action that round out last weekend started off with Courtney establishing the day’s quickest time in qualifying. “Sunshine” soon had his work cut out though after contact sent him spinning before the 100-lapper had reached the tenth round.
Courtney rallied from the tail of the field, climbing all the way to third by race’s end to finish off the weekend in strong fashion.
“Some nights it’s your night and some nights it’s not,” Courtney said of the Sunday card. “We restarted 24th and got back up to third, that’s a good way to finish the weekend. That car has been fast each time out, it’s going to be fun to drive in the dirt races the rest of the year.”
Silver Crown action will resume at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on May 24. Until then, the focus will be on the USAC National Sprint Car scene with a half-dozen events over the course of May beginning with Saturday’s Plymouth action.
2018 Quick Stats: 16 races, 3 wins, 8 top-fives, 9 top-tens.
Up Next: USAC National Sprint Cars at Plymouth (IN) Speedway on Saturday night.
Saturday’s event is available on https://www.speedshifttv.com/ for those unable to take in the action live.
Keep Track: Keep track of Tyler Courtney’s on-track action including schedule and results at www.tylercourtney.com.
If you would like Tyler Courtney Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley